Clinton tops Sanders in Nevada Democratic caucuses
Sanders, who performed well in the predominantly white states of Iowa and New Hampshire, under pressure to show that he can attract broad cross-section of Democrats to remain competitive
Published: 20:26 February 21, 2016
Las Vegas: Buoyed by the support of minority voters and enthusiastic workers in the city’s big casinos, Hillary Clinton defeated senator Bernie Sanders in the Nevada caucuses on Saturday, thwarting his momentum and proving to an anxious Democratic Party that she could assemble a broad coalition to carry her to the general election.
Clinton’s team breathed a sigh of relief as the results of the often-unpredictable campaign made clear that she had rebounded after losing the support of women, young people and others in her crushing defeat in the recent New Hampshire primary. At a caucus at the famed Caesars Palace, blackjack dealers, pit bosses, cooks and housekeepers excitedly declared their support for the former secretary of state.
Voters in many predominantly Hispanic and black neighbourhoods backed Clinton after she worked hard to connect with them, most notably when she comforted a tearful young Latina who feared her parents would be deported. That moment was turned into a powerful ad for Clinton, whose message of solidarity with minority voters stood in contrast to Sanders’ more esoteric attacks on Wall Street and the campaign finance system.
With votes from 88 per cent of caucus precincts counted, Clinton had won 52.6 per cent, while Sanders had drawn 47.4 per cent in a relatively modest turnout. Clinton had been far ahead in the polls until recently, when Sanders became better known here and struck fear into the Clinton campaign that he might prevail in Nevada and deal her a serious setback.
In her victory speech on Saturday afternoon, in a ballroom at Caesars Palace, Clinton devoted her campaign to “hotel and casino workers who never wavered” and “the thousands of men and women with kids to raise, bills to pay and dreams that won’t die.”
She used plural pronouns like “we” and “us” more than usual, as opposed to leaning on “I,” a clear attempt to make her campaign about voters as Sanders has done powerfully.
“We look at our country and see so much that isn’t working the way it should,” Clinton said.
“Americans are right to be angry, but we’re also hungry for real solutions,” she added, a line that seemed aimed at aggrieved voters who like the urgency of Sanders but may doubt he can enact his ambitious agenda.
Clinton’s victory was a serious setback for Sanders, who campaigned hard in Nevada in hopes that a surge of Latino and black voters would heed his call for a political revolution.
Sanders delivered a bullish concession speech on Saturday, saying that his message had inspired historic numbers of young and working people to vote and that it would lead to victories in the Super Tuesday primaries on March 1 and ultimately the Democratic nomination.
“We have come a very long way in nine months,” Sanders said. “The wind is at our backs. We have the momentum. And I believe that when Democrats assemble in Philadelphia in July at that convention, we are going to see the results of one of the great political upsets in the history of the United States.”
Yet in the view of several political analysts, Clinton’s victory in Nevada and proven popularity with minority voters increases the likelihood of her winning the South Carolina primary next Saturday and many of the Super Tuesday contests, which would put her on even more certain path to the party’s nomination.
Robert Shrum, a longtime strategist for presidential campaigns, said that with Clinton’s Nevada win, “Most Democrats will conclude — again — that she will be the nominee.”
Clinton had for months considered Nevada a haven that would provide a welcome shift from the mostly white electorates of New Hampshire and Iowa. But in recent weeks, Sanders’ populist message began to take hold and polls tightened. Her campaign, bracing for another loss, seemed to look beyond Nevada to the contest in South Carolina.
Still, early organising in the state and a last-minute on-the-ground push by Clinton’s campaign and its supporters paid off. And Clinton, who is typically a reserved presence on the trail, seemed to embrace the quirkiness of campaigning in Las Vegas, posing for photographs with Britney Spears, who was in town for her show at Planet Hollywood, and even receiving the endorsement of 500 sex workers, mostly from Carson City brothels, who formed the ‘Hookers 4 Hillary’ group.
Less than an hour before the caucuses began, Clinton was shaking hands in the employee cafeteria at Harrah’s casino. “I need your help this morning, in the showroom at 11 am,” she told the predominantly Spanish-speaking workers.
Several Hispanic voters cheered Clinton with enthusiasm.
“She’ll change immigration. She’ll change the economy. She’ll change todo!” said Dora Gonzalez, 54, a casino porter at the Bellagio, using the Spanish word for everything.
“And she’s a mujer!” added her friend Elba Pinera, 51, originally from Honduras, using the Spanish word for woman.
Sanders, who performed well in the predominantly white states of Iowa and New Hampshire, is under pressure to show that he can attract the broad cross-section of Democrats necessary to remain competitive with Clinton.
Sanders did appeal to a good number of Hispanic voters: According to entrance polls by Edison Research, Sanders was ahead of Clinton among Hispanics. These numbers may not reflect the final vote tally, however, because Clinton was performing strongly in heavily Hispanic neighbourhoods around Clark County, which encompasses Las Vegas. Sanders fared poorly among African-American voters, earning support from only 22 per cent of them, according to the entrance polls.
Sanders advisers acknowledged on Saturday that his weak performance with African-Americans meant he could face significant difficulties in the South Carolina primary and the Super Tuesday states, many of which have large African-American populations. Sanders has been reluctant to reshape his political message to appeal more sharply or dramatically to black voters — which he did not do in his concession speech here — and political analysts said time was running out to show he could expand his base of support.
“When will Sanders prove that he can win a state with a big minority population? That has to be his top goal right now, and he’s far from it,” said Brent F. Nelsen, a political scientist at Furman University in South Carolina. “A lot of Sanders loyalists here are confused why African-Americans aren’t supporting Bernie, since he’s speaking their economic language. But a lot of blacks here and elsewhere also care about personal loyalty and relationships, and Clinton has a strong edge there.”
Sanders’ earlier surges in Iowa, where he nearly tied Clinton, and in New Hampshire came at a high price, according to campaign finance data released on Saturday. He spent $35 million in January, an enormous amount, and ended the month with half as much cash on hand as Clinton, after outraising her by several million dollars.
In Nevada, Clinton benefited from deep connections to the state. Robby Mook, her campaign manager, had served as her Nevada director when she narrowly defeated Barack Obama here in 2008. Her current state director, Emmy Ruiz, delivered a victory in Nevada to Obama in his 2012 re-election campaign.
Her support among labour also ran deep, even though the Culinary Workers Union, which represents 57,000 members, many of whom are Latino, declined to endorse a candidate. But on Thursday, senator Harry Reid of Nevada, who also remained neutral, said in an interview that he had spoken to D. Taylor, the head of the union’s parent group, to make sure its members could have paid time off to participate in the caucuses, a move that operatives in the state believed helped tip the race in Clinton’s favour.
Clinton overwhelmingly defeated Sanders in the caucuses that were held at six major Las Vegas casinos, including Harrah’s, the Wynn and New York-New York, which heavily drew working-class minority voters.
Before the 2008 election, Reid lobbied for Nevada to be among the early-voting states, arguing that its mix of urban and rural areas, and a population that is nearly half minority, could indicate how candidates would fare among a more diverse electorate.
“If you’re my colour and you start school, you’ll be in a minority in Clark County,” Reid said on Thursday in an interview, referring to the state’s most populous county.
The state has just six electoral votes in the general election, but its population reflects the composition of other potential Western battlegrounds like Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.
The Nevada results were personally important for Clinton, who struggled in 2008 to win caucus states, although she prevailed here against Obama. In this campaign, she has won the two caucuses so far, here and in Iowa. Immediately following her speech, Clinton flew to Houston for a rally. “I’m on my way to Texas. Bill is on his way to Colorado. The fight goes on!” she said.
— New York Times New Service
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